Diarmuid Connolly: 'Armagh just don't seem like they're going to falter'

Diarmuid Connolly, think Armagh will make it to the last four. File picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Armagh winning convincingly is the Diarmuid Connolly verdict for Sunday’s All-Ireland quarter-final between the title holders and Kerry.

Dublin’s seven-time All-Ireland winner knows it would be foolish behaviour to write Kerry off but simply cannot back a team ravaged with injuries and who haven’t performed in championship 2025.

“Armagh just don't seem like they're going to falter. I know they were beaten in the Ulster final, but they still got to the Ulster final, and a very hard road they went down to get there,” Connolly began.

“With Oisín O'Neill coming back, he just offers a little bit of magic. I think he's the star man of this team, and if he can get hot, just like David Clifford, he could kick two-pointers and run away with this one.

“Consistently, Armagh have been there, have performed. Kerry, you can't say they have. Do they have a massive game in them? Probably, yes. But I'll be going for Armagh by maybe three or four points, and winning convincingly.” 

In a post-match interview following his 3-7 display against Cavan, Clifford, unprompted, called on Kerry supporters to follow the team to Croke Park this weekend. Connolly didn’t interpret Clifford’s comments as his focus being somewhere it shouldn’t.

“No, I wouldn't say so, but I'd say they're getting a lot of stick back home too. Kerry's a funny place. Football is pretty much like a religion down there.

Connolly says no one in Kerry believes Kerry can win an All-Ireland this year. File picture: James Lawlor/Inpho

“I wouldn't say David Clifford is able to walk down the road without talking about Gaelic Football. Whereas in Dublin, we could stick to ourselves, we could stick to our own friends' group, and you don't have to go into that so much every day.

“In Kerry, it's very, very hard to get away with that. And he's just asking for the support, rather than the negative stuff that he's probably hearing on the street.

“Nobody believes down there, and I spoke to a lot of Kerry people, nobody believes they're going to go and win an All-Ireland. But David Clifford has to believe that he's going to go and win an All-Ireland and if he performs to the level he can, there's absolutely no doubt that Kerry can win an All-Ireland.” 

Turning to his native county’s last-eight bout with Tyrone, Connolly said if Con O’Callaghan is 70% fit well then he has to return to the starting line-up after missing the Cork win.

Although predicting a draw here, the two-time All-Star sees midfield as the defining battleground and would prefer if Brian Howard partnered Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne, with Ciarán Kilkenny moving to the half-forward line.

Connolly chose not to add to the wall of criticism directed at Mayo County Board over their statement relieving Kevin McStay of his managerial role. 

He did accuse Jim McGuinness, mind, of unnecessarily playing mind games with all the various gripes he’s articulated over the course of the championship.

Closer to home, he was extremely critical of those responsible for the financial mismanagement of the Parnells club following a €22m land sale in 2008.

“To lose €22m over the space of a decade is criminal. I hope justice is served. I hope Parnells can come back. They have no pitch. It is a really sad state of affairs.”